Menstrual Periods

'Aisha said, "We set out with the sole intention of performing Hajj
and when we reached Sarif, (a place six miles from Mecca) I got my
menses. Allah's Apostle came to me while I was weeping. He said 'What
is the matter with you? Have you got your menses?' I replied, 'Yes.'
He said, 'This is a thing which Allah has ordained for the daughters
of Adam. So do what all the pilgrims do with the exception of the
Taw-af (Circumambulation) round the Ka'ba." 'Aisha added, "Allah's
Apostle sacrificed cows on behalf of his wives."

A person asked me, "Can a woman in menses serve me? And can a Junub
woman come close to me?" I replied, "All this is easy for me. All of
them can serve me, and there is no harm for any other person to do the
same. 'Aisha told me that she used to comb the hair of Allah's Apostle
while she was in her menses, and he was in Itikaf (in the mosque). He
would bring his head near her in her room and she would comb his hair,
while she used to be in her menses."

While I was laying with the Prophet under a single woolen sheet, I got
the menses. I slipped away and put on the clothes for menses. He said,
"Have you got "Nifas" (menses)?" I replied, "Yes." He then called me
and made me lie with him under the same sheet.

The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were
Junub. During the menses, he used to order me to put on an Izar (dress
worn below the waist) and used to fondle me. While in Itikaf, he used
to bring his head near me and I would wash it while I used to be in my
periods (menses).

(on the authority of his father) 'Aisha said: "Whenever Allah's
Apostle wanted to fondle anyone of us during her periods (menses), he
used to order her to put on an Izar and start fondling her." 'Aisha
added, "None of you could control his sexual desires as the Prophet
could."

Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o
'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said,
"O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers
of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's
Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to
your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence
and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by
some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient
in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of
two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the
affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence.
Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her
menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the
deficiency in her religion."

We set out with the Prophet for Hajj and when we reached Sarif I got
my menses. When the Prophet came to me, I was weeping. He asked, "Why
are you weeping?" I said, "I wish if I had not performed Hajj this
year." He asked, "May be that you got your menses?" I replied, "Yes."
He then said, "This is the thing which Allah has ordained for all the
daughters of Adam. So do what all the pilgrims do except that you do
not perform the Tawaf round the Ka'ba till you are clean."

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish said to Allah's Apostle, "O Allah's Apostle! I
do not become clean (from bleeding). Shall I give up my prayers?"
Allah's Apostle replied: "No, because it is from a blood vessel and
not the menses. So when the real menses begins give up your prayers
and when it (the period) has finished wash the blood off your body
(take a bath) and offer your prayers."

A woman asked Allah's Apostle, "O Allah's Apostle! What should we do,
if the blood of menses falls on our clothes?" Allah's Apostle replied,
"If the blood of menses falls on the garment of anyone of you, she
must take hold of the blood spot, rub it, and wash it with water and
then pray in (with it)."

Whenever anyone of us got her menses, she, on becoming clean, used to
take hold of the blood spot and rub the blood off her garment, and
pour water over it and wash that portion thoroughly and sprinkle water
over the rest of the garment. After that she would pray in (with) it.

Once one of the wives of the Prophet did Itikaf along with him and she
was getting bleeding in between her periods. She used to see the blood
(from her private parts) and she would perhaps put a dish under her
for the blood. (The sub-narrator 'Ikrima added, 'Aisha once saw the
liquid of safflower and said, "It looks like what so and so used to
have.")

None of us had more than a single garment and we used to have our
menses while wearing it. Whenever it got soiled with blood of menses
we used to apply saliva to the blood spot and rub off the blood with
our nails.

We were forbidden to mourn for a dead person for more than three days
except in the case of a husband for whom mourning was allowed for four
months and ten days. (During that time) we were not allowed to put
ko,hl (Antimony eye power) in our eyes or to use perfumes or to put on
colored clothes except a dress made of 'Asb (a kind of Yemen cloth,
very coarse and rough). We were allowed very light perfumes at the
time of taking a bath after menses and also we were forbidden to go
with the funeral procession .

A woman asked the Prophet about the bath which is take after finishing
from the menses. The Prophet told her what to do and said, "Purify
yourself with a piece of cloth scented with musk." The woman asked,
"How shall I purify myself with it" He said, "Subhan Allah! Purify
yourself (with it)." I pulled her to myself and said, "Rub the place
soiled with blood with it."

An Ansari woman asked the Prophet how to take a bath after finishing
from the menses. He replied, "Take a piece a cloth perfumed with musk
and clean the private parts with it thrice." The Prophet felt shy and
turned his face. So pulled her to me and told her what the Prophet
meant.

In the last Hajj of Allah's Apostle I assume the Ihram for Hajj along
with Allah Apostle. I was one of those who intended Tamattu' (to
perform Hajj an 'Umra) and did not take the Hadi (animal for
sacrifice) with me. I got my menses and was not clean till the night
of 'Arafa I said, "O Allah's Apostle! It is the night of the day of
'Arafat and I intended to perform the Hajj Tamattu' with 'Umra Allah's
Apostle told me to undo my hair and comb it and to postpone the 'Umra.
I did the same and completed the Hajj. On the night of Al-Hasba (i.e.
place outside Mecca where the pilgrims go after finishing all the
ceremonies Hajj at Mina) he (the Prophet ordered 'Abdur Rahman
('Aisha's brother) to take me to At-Tan'im to assume the lhram
for'Umra in lieu of that of Hajj-atTamattu' which I had intended to
perform.

On the 1st of Dhul-Hijja we set out with the intention of performing
Hajj. Allah's Apostle said, "Any one who likes to assume the Ihram for
'Umra he can do so. Had I not brought the Hadi with me, I would have
assumed the Ihram for 'Umra. "Some of us assumed the Ihram for 'Umra
while the others assumed the Ihram for Hajj. I was one of those who
assumed the Ihram for 'Umra. I got menses and kept on menstruating
until the day of 'Arafat and complained of that to the Prophet . He
told me to postpone my 'Umra, undo and comb my hair, and to assure the
Ihram of Hajj and I did so. On the right of Hasba, he sent my brother
'Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Bakr with me to At-Tah'im, where I assumed the
Ihram for'Umra in lieu of the previous one. Hisham said, "For that
('Umra) no Hadi, fasting or alms were required.

The Prophet said, "At every womb Allah appoints an angel who says, 'O
Lord! A drop of semen, O Lord! A clot. O Lord! A little lump of
flesh." Then if Allah wishes (to complete) its creation, the angel
asks, (O Lord!) Will it be a male or female, a wretched or a blessed,
and how much will his provision be? And what will his age be?' So all
that is written while the child is still in the mother's womb."

'Aisha said, "We set out with the Prophet in his last Hajj. Some of us
intended to perform 'Umra while others Hajj. When we reached Mecca,
Allah's Apostle said, 'Those who had assumed the lhram for'Umra and
had not brought the Hadi should finish his lhram and whoever had
assumed the Ihram for 'Umra and brought the Hadi should not finish the
Ihram till he has slaughtered his Hadi and whoever had assumed the
lhram for Hajj should complete his Hajj." 'Aisha further said, "I got
my periods (menses) and kept on menstruating till the day of 'Arafat,
and I had assumed the Ihram for 'Umra only (Tamattu'). The Prophet
ordered me to undo and comb my head hair and assume the lhram for Hajj
only and leave the 'Umra. I did the same till I completed the Hajj.
Then the Prophet sent 'Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr with me and ordered
me to perform 'Umra from At-Tan'im in lieu of the missed 'Umra."

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish used to have bleeding in between the periods,
so she asked the Prophet about it . He replied, "The bleeding is from
a blood vessel and not the menses. So give up the prayers when the
(real) menses begin and when it has finished, take a bath and start
praying."

A woman asked 'Aisha, "Should I offer the prayers that which I did not
offer because of menses" 'Aisha said, "Are you from the Huraura' (a
town in Iraq?) We were with the Prophet and used to get our periods
but he never ordered us to offer them (the Prayers missed during
menses)." 'Aisha perhaps said, "We did not offer them."

Um-Salama said, "I got my menses while I was lying with the Prophet
under a woolen sheet. So I slipped away, took the clothes for menses
and put them on. Allah's Apostle said, 'Have you got your menses?' I
replied, 'Yes.' Then he called me and took me with him under the
woolen sheet." Um Salama further said, "The Prophet used to kiss me
while he was fasting. The Prophet and I used to take the bath of
Janaba from a single pot."

While I was lying with the Prophet under a woolen sheet, I got my
menses. I slipped away and put on the clothes for menses. The Prophet
said, "Have you got your menses?" I replied, "Yes." He called me and I
slept with him under the woolen sheet.

Hafsa said, 'We used to forbid our young women to go out for the two
'Id prayers. A woman came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and
she narrated about her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy
battles along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband in
six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said, "We used to
treat the wounded, look after the patients and once I asked the
Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us to stay at home if she
doesn't have a veil?' He said, 'She should cover herself with the veil
of her companion and should participate in the good deeds and in the
religious gathering of the Muslims.' When Um 'Atiya came I asked her
whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied, "Yes. May my
father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)! (Whenever she mentioned
the Prophet she used to say, 'May my father be sacrificed for him) I
have heard the Prophet saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the
mature girl who stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who
often stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and
participate in the good deeds as well as the religious gathering of
the faithful believers but the menstruating women should keep away
from the Musalla (praying place).' " Hafsa asked Um 'Atiya
surprisingly, "Do you say the menstruating women?" She replied,
"Doesn't a menstruating woman attend 'Arafat (Hajj) and such and such
(other deeds)?"

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish asked the Prophet, "I got persistent bleeding
(in between the periods) and do not become clean. Shall I give up
prayers?" He replied, "No, this is from a blood vessel. Give up the
prayers only for the days on which you usually get the menses and then
take a bath and offer your prayers."

(the wife of the Prophet) Um Habiba got bleeding in between the
periods for seven years. She asked Allah's Apostle about it. He
ordered her to take a bath (after the termination of actual periods)
and added that it was (from) a blood vessel. So she used to take a
bath for every prayer.

(the wife of the Prophet) I told Allah's Apostle that Safiya bint
Huyai had got her menses. He said, "She will probably delay us. Did
she perform Tawaf (Al-Ifada) with you?" We replied, "Yes." On that the
Prophet told her to depart.

A woman is al lowed to leave (go back home) if she gets menses (after
Tawaf-AlIfada). Ibn 'Umar formerly used to say that she should not
leave but later on I heard him saying, "She may leave, since Allah's
Apostle gave them the permission to leave (after Tawaf-AlIfada."

(the wife of the Prophet) During my menses, I never prayed, but used
to sit on the mat beside the mosque of Allah's Apostle. He used to
offer the prayer on his sheet and in prostration some of his clothes
used to touch me."